Qifei worked quickly, explaining each step to Xiuluo as she did it. Finally, she took a satisfied sniff of the whole thing out of the pot.
"As expected, your skills haven't declined."
Next time it'll be your turn to cook for me!
"Okay." Shura nodded seriously. "I've got it all in mind. I'll definitely make it for you next time."
The spare ribs were specially selected by Shura.
These ribs are best for making sweet and sour pork ribs.
Qifei also casually prepared a cold black fungus salad.
The wood ear mushrooms are wild; although small, they are refreshing and crisp, and when combined with red chili peppers, they suit Shura's taste perfectly.
Shura even cooked a pot of rice specifically for this pork rib meal.
At this time, the rice in the large pot was cooked with firewood. After the rice was scooped out, some rice was left in the pot and heated up a little more, which would result in a particularly crispy rice crust.
Sprinkle with white sugar, and it becomes crispy, crunchy, and sweet. Qifei ate almost half of it all by herself.
"If you like it, I'll make it for you again next time."
Putting everything else aside, he's particularly good at making crispy rice crusts.
Most of the time, he would just cook a pot of rice and prepare some simple dishes.
The dishes weren't very good, but the rice was quite presentable.
"Actually, it's fine if you cook rice and I cook dishes." Qifei said, crunching on the rice crust.
Although Shura can't cook, she did a good job preparing the ingredients beforehand.
All she has to do is put the vegetables in the pot.
After finishing the meal, Shura took the initiative to wash the dishes and also washed an apple for Qifei.
Fruit is a rare commodity nowadays, and it's not something you can have often.
"Where did this apple come from?" Qifei took a bite of the apple; it was quite sweet.
"I saw some today and bought some. You can take them back later."
As Shura spoke, he paused for a moment when he saw the apple being offered to his mouth. "You eat it. I bought it especially for you."
"Let's eat it together, it's such a big apple, I can't finish it all." Qi Fei said in a sweet and coquettish voice, her words trailing off at the end, which made Xiu Luo's eyes darken a few degrees.
Seeing that Qifei insisted, Xiuluo took a bite out of politeness.
The two of them took turns eating the apple, and it took them a long time to wash all the bowls.
At night, the surroundings were very quiet, and since Shura's house was in a relatively remote part of the village, it was even more tranquil.
Shura gently fanned himself with a palm-leaf fan, trying to make Qifei more comfortable when she leaned against him.
The starry sky at this time was beautiful. Although it couldn't compare to the starry sky that Qifei saw in the deep mountains, it was undoubtedly much more beautiful than the starry sky of later generations.
"What do you do when you're not working?" Qifei had wanted to ask this for a long time. Xiu Luo had told her before that he wouldn't go to work, but he hadn't said what he would do specifically.
Today, when she saw the pork ribs and apples he brought back, she had some doubts again.
What exactly did he go there for that he would bring these things back?
Shura paused for a moment, considering whether or not to tell Qifei the truth.
He didn't know how to bring it up, but the fewer people knew about what he was doing, the better. He was also afraid that if he were discovered, it would drag Qifei down with him.
This is why Shura initially rejected Kihime.
However, he didn't want to deceive Qifei, and he didn't know if Qifei would despise what he was doing.
He wasn't afraid that Qifei would report him, but rather that she would look down on what he was doing.
After much deliberation, Shura finally spoke.
If Qifei really cares about what he's doing now and wants to leave, he'll accept it.
He didn't want to deceive.
If there was deception in the relationship from the beginning, there will definitely be countless more lies in the future.
Do you remember the market in that alley you went to that day?
"Huh? You mean that place that sells a lot of things?" It was clear that Kihi remembered it and had a deep impression of it.
She remembers buying a lot of things there.
“Yes, that’s where I go when I’m not working.” As Shura spoke, his gaze fell on Qifei’s face, and there was a hint of tension on his face.
"Huh, so what do you mainly do there?" Qifei asked immediately, curious.
"Maintaining security inside and receiving goods," Shura explained briefly.
Unexpectedly, there were still people maintaining it. Qi Fei nodded thoughtfully, so the place she entered that day was not formed by chance, but rather someone deliberately turned it into a market.
"That's what they call the black market. The black market is maintained by me and a few other brothers." Seeing that Qi Fei was just curious and didn't show any disdain, Shura breathed a sigh of relief and spoke more cheerfully.
"I see." Qifei looked at Xiuluo with concern. "But I heard that this place seems to be very hostile towards this. Is what you're doing dangerous?"
"It's alright, we're always very careful, and the black market isn't always in that one place. People who can get into the black market all have guides."
"Hmm? I was pretty lucky to go in by myself that day," Qifei said happily.
...
That's not wrong, but almost everyone who let Qifei in that day was punished.
Shura only gave Qifei a general overview, without going into further details.
His job is more than just maintenance and receiving goods.
He's now in charge of the entire town's black market, and finding suppliers is also his job.
Actually, the black market in their town isn't particularly large, and as the initial players, they now have to pay tribute to their suppliers every month.
Because the source of goods was initially provided by the supplier.
Shura and the others worked for a while and passed the assessment before they were gradually given more authority.
However, he knew that this was a tightrope walk, and he couldn't stay in the black market for too long.
He still needs to find another way.
Let's wait a little longer, until he's more fully developed.
Shura had not told these words to anyone; only the monkey vaguely knew some of Shura's thoughts.
However, the monkey was single-mindedly devoted to its leader and only wanted to follow Shura.
So no matter where Shura goes or what he does, he just needs to follow behind.
Even if Shura didn't specifically tell him, he knew the importance of it and never revealed this information to anyone.
They don't go every day anymore because the authorities are cracking down on this, so the black market, which used to open more frequently, now only opens a few times a month.
It's not that they don't want to make money, but their lives are more important than making money.
Fortunately, some people can't find the black market or even look for it.
After all, in black market transactions, if someone gets caught, it's not just the seller who suffers; the buyer also gets caught.
Therefore, both are very cautious.
Shura stroked Qifei's hair. "I'll go to work with you tomorrow. We won't go there for now; we'll need to take a break for a while."
"Really?" Qifei didn't ask why it had to stop, but the fact that Xiuluo could accompany her to work was enough to make her very happy.
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